The final match was also attended by young participants of the international children's social programme Football for Friendship from 64 countries.

The defending champions, Brazil, who won the previous three Confederations Cups (2005, 2009, 2013), failed to qualify for the first time since 1995 following their loss on penalties to Paraguay in the quarter-finals of the 2015 Copa América.

2015 AFC Asian Cup winners Australia became the first team to qualify from multiple confederations, having previously represented the OFC in 1997, 2001 and 2005.

After Russia secured a spot in the tournament as the hosts, Germany were the first team to qualify via competition, after winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Australia were the next team to qualify after beating South Korea 2–1 after extra time, in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final.

Chile were the fourth team to secure a spot at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup after defeating Argentina 4–1 on a penalty shoot-out following a 0–0 draw after extra time, in the 2015 Copa América Final.

New Zealand were the sixth team to qualify for the tournament after defeating Papua New Guinea 4–2 on a penalty shoot-out following a 0–0 draw after extra time, in the 2016 OFC Nations Cup Final.

Portugal were the seventh team to qualify, after defeating host nation France 1–0 after extra time, in the UEFA Euro 2016 Final.

[12] Russia was placed in position A1 in the group stage and played in the opening match against New Zealand at the Zenit Arena in Saint Petersburg on 17 June.

Pot 1 contained hosts Russia and the three highest-ranked teams in the November 2016 edition of the FIFA World Rankings (shown in parentheses below):[15] Germany, Chile, and Portugal.

[19][20] The official match ball for the Cup was produced by Adidas and was named "Krasava",[21] which is a Russian slang word for "beautiful" or "awesome".

[31] Tickets were distributed in four stages: pre-sale for holders of Visa cards, random draw, first-come first-served, and last-minute sales.

FAN ID gave the opportunity to use free transport services on the match days in the cities hosting the sports events.